Digital Freedom

1. Arrest of social media users

Before he was elected Prime Minister, Narendra Modi turned his Twitter profile photo black to support free speech online. But his critics face the chilling effects of censorship of dissenting views. Indian citizens in Goa and Kerala faced arrest for Facebook posts critical of Modi.

2. New censorship law planned after Supreme Court defends free speech

In March 2015, the Supreme Court defended Indians’ right of free speech by blocking the use of Section 66A to arrest Internet users—a blow to the Modi government’s censorship efforts. The Modi government’s response? Try to bring back online censorship, using a brand new law.

Narendra Modi surprised Indians by unilaterally imposing bans on hundreds of websites on 1.25 billion Indians. The sites included popular video sites like Vimeo and CollegeHumor, software development tools like GitHub, and Internet utilities like Archive.org — in the name of combating “ISIS” and “pornography.”